Technology Improvement Plan
Technology Improvement Plan Technology is an integral part of education, and technology use in schools continues to grow. In order to prepare our students for the global world, we have determined that we must increase and improve our technology use. It is especially relevant as we prepare our middle school students for success in high school. The implementation of new technologies will be laborious and costly, but the outcome will be meaningful and worthwhile for our school and students. The following information is our plan to acquire and implement technology in our middle school. -Hardware – Interactive Whiteboards *Cost $2,000 Interactive whiteboards allow teachers and students to collaborate in the classroom. Both teacher and student can use this device to present information to the class. It allows for group interaction and meaningful discussions. They are a major improve ment over our standard white boards, it is visually more appealing and has a number of different features. Pictures, sound, videos and graphics can be added to enhance the presentation. They are internet ready, so teachers can model how to navigate through the internet or sites important to the lesson. They are also beneficial for different sensory learning styles, they are interactive through site, touch and sound. Although they are an invaluable tool, interactive whiteboards can be very expensive. After researching different types and features, I found that they range from approximately $1,500-$6,000. It would be ideal for every teacher to have one in their class, but with thirty teachers in a school, it would be a significant cost. That leaves the issue of sharing the device(s). There would have to be a schedule in place for who gets to use it and when, this could cause problems between staff members. Another issue is training. Each staff member who uses the device needs extensive training on how to use it. Some teachers are hesitant to incorporate such a device in their classroom, as it adds a lot of work to their already heavy load. How will we know if interactive whiteboards are being effective in our classrooms? We can look at several factors. Is participation in class increasing? Are the students collaborating with each other? Are students more engaged in lessons? Are students able to demonstrate learning using the board? These questions can be answered by teacher observation, utilizing student and teacher surveys and interviews with teachers and students. If after gathering and analyzing the data obtained, the answer is yes, it is an effective tool in the classroom. -Software – Kiddom *Cost – Free Kiddom is an all-encompassing operating system, one of the best parts about this software is that it is free for teachers. This software is a cloud-based gradebook (both standard and grade based) with the capability to lesson plan, generate progress reports, send private messages to student and teacher and differentiate instruction for individual students. It also offers many built in resources for enhancing lessons, designing tests, quizzes and activities. It also allows for collaboration between teachers, and provides instant feedback for students and parents. It is available on the desktop, laptop, iOS or android operating systems. It is very easy for all parties to stay up to date with access on your phone or tablet. It can be used by all teacher school wide. It is a one stop shop for students, as they can access grades, receive feedback, message their teacher and access and submit assignments. This software can also be aligned with our curriculum, making it easy to monitor student progress. As with any new technology, training is necessary for teachers to utilize this program successfully. Especially if it is going to be used school wide, with the idea of collaboration between teachers. Teachers must be diligent and keep up with submitting and grading assignments on this program. It is another new technology that we want our teachers to learn and master. After the first month of using Kiddom, we will send a survey to all teachers, students and parents to rate and review the program. It is important that all parties find the software useful and meaningful. We will also look at data concerning assignment completion and understanding from before the app was implemented and after to see if it is helping our students grow and excel. -Portable Device – iPad *Cost-$300-$600 iPads are an invaluable tool for the classroom. Physically, they are lightweight and easy to transport. Using iPads will help us in our effort to go green, eliminating much of our paper waste, as assignments can be completed right on the device. Most of our teachers and students already have experience with iPads, so extensive training is not necessary. There are thousands of educational apps, both free and at low cost, available through the app store. There are also built in digital tools such as a calculator, e-reader, text to speech, safari, photo and video capability, and so much more. It encourages collaboration, students can work on projects and presentations together. Teachers can provide instant and ongoing feedback for any assignment. It makes differentiation much easier for the teacher, considering the wide range of apps that are available for any type of learner or learning level. Working on the iPad is appealing students. Many students view using the iPad as a treat, and it helps to make learning more fun. Only an internet connection is needed to access all it has to offer. One of the major drawbacks is cost. Apple does offer a discount for educators, and last year lowered the cost of the iPad for schools. Another drawback is that not all families in our school use Apple products. Many of the applications are only available on the iOS platform, these families will not have access to them at home. There has to be clear rules and expectations for iPad use. Teachers will be required to complete “get to know your device” lessons in class. A technology agreement detailing the rules and expectations will be sent home for students and parents to sign. No student will be permitted to use the device until the contract is signed and returned to school. How we will assess whether or not the iPad is improving student learning. Analyzing data such as assignment completion, grades, reading levels, comprehension and math skills before and after we implement the device. We will also survey teachers, students and parents asking for specific feedback concerning the implementation and use of the iPad in the classroom. Our main priority is student safety. Anytime we enter into the online world, we need to consider the well-being of our students. Teachers need to model appropriate behavior online on a daily basis, taking the time to discuss the importance with students. Students will learn about digital citizenship, and what it means to be a good digital citizen. Additionally, students will be made aware of the consequences they will face if they choose not to practice what they have learned in these lessons. Teachers will be continuously monitoring the students and the classroom when the devices are online. Teachers will also frequently check the sites that each student visits when they are on the iPad. -Cloud Based Acquisition – G Suite for Education *Cost – Free This is a free suite of applications specifically for education from Google. We have all used Google, and know how easy it is to use and navigate, these applications are no different. It includes Gmail, Google Documents, Drive, Hangouts, and Google Calendar. All of these apps are interactive and work together. Teachers and students can stay organized and complete work in one place. It is cloud based, so it is accessible from any device with internet access. This saves the hassle of carrying devices back and forth from school and home. It will be necessary to train teachers and students who have never used the Google Applications before. It can be difficult to upload files not computed on Google Documents, such as files from Microsoft Word or PDF’s. As with the other technology introduced in this plan, we will evaluate the usefulness of these applications based on teacher and student feedback. One benefit of Google, is it is a safe and secure platform. With that being said, it is still imperative to stress to the students to be good digital citizens while online, computing and sending emails. -Technology Workshop – Learning to be Digital Citizens *Cost – Free to Public School Employees This exceedingly important workshop is available for free both in person, and online. As mentioned above, student safety is, and continues to be our number one priority. It is imperative that as teachers, we model exemplary digital citizenship. What exactly does that mean? This workshop is designed to prepare both teachers and students to be upstanding digital citizens. This workshop will also discuss the importance of our digital footprints, as well as student privacy issues. We will assess this workshop based on the learning activities and how engaged our teachers were during the workshop. Did it provide meaning lessons, activities, advice and tips to carry back to the classroom? Did it address digital citizenship, digital footprints and student safety and privacy? What were the teacher’s thoughts on the workshop? It is important to obtain feedback from everyone attending the conference. -Every other Tuesday the staff will meet after school for one hour to share how the implementation of the new technology is working. What is the most useful and meaningful? What needs work? What needs to go? It will be a time for teachers to collaborate to make the most out of the new technologies available for them and the students. -Teachers will still be able to collaborate, share ideas and get advice on a daily basis. We will be using the G Suite technology to create a Google Hangout specifically for our teachers to this. Teachers can access their private Google Hangout to leave messages, post resources and give and receive feedback concerning the new use of technology. -It is important to make sure that our technology is cared for and maintained. Teachers and students should continually back up any work that they are computing. This should occur on a daily basis, every time something new is created. -Teachers should also be aware of any software updates and update accordingly. It is important to keep software up to date to keep our devices running smoothly. -The IT department will run monthly checks on all school distributed computers to make sure they are up to date and functioning properly.